Pink fired back at critics after she accused woke rapper Macklemore of crossing a line over his anti-Israel tirade while opening for Ed Sheeran at MetLife Stadium last weekend.<\/p>\n
Macklemore, whose real name is Benjamin Hammond Haggerty, called to \u201cFree Palestine\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and accused Israel of committing genocide before he performed his song \u201cHind\u2019s Hall\u201d during the Sept. 4 and 5 concerts in New Jersey.<\/p>\n Macklemore\u2019s performance also featured a slideshow played on the screen behind him, showing footage from the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n Pink defended her criticism of Macklemore\u2019s pro-Palestinian concert remarks, saying she \u201cwas born a Jew\u201d and has \u201cnever hidden it.\u201d Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions<\/p>\n Pink reshared a video that featured the \u201cThrift Shop\u201d rapper\u2019s set from StopAntisemitism on Instagram, which criticized Macklemore and called for him to be removed from Sheeran\u2019s Loop Tour.<\/p>\n The post sparked a backlash against Pink, as fans accused her of seemingly being pro-Israel. The \u201cJust Give Me a Reason\u201d\u00a0singer responded in a powerful statement on Instagram Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been quiet in my own words for a week, which you know isn\u2019t like me. So here they are,\u201d the \u201cJust Give Me a Reason\u201d\u00a0singer wrote<\/a> on Instagram Friday.<\/p>\n \u201cI was born a Jew,\u201d she said. \u201cI didn\u2019t pick it, and I\u2019ve never hidden it. And this week a whole lot of people decided what I believe without asking me, without checking a single thing I\u2019ve ever said or done, because a repost and the word \u2018Jew\u2019 were apparently enough to fill in the rest. But let me fill it in\u2026 myself.\u201d<\/p>\n Pink, real name Alecia Moore, clarified where she stood on the Gaza war.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course I don\u2019t speak for Israel, or for any government. I never have,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I said in October 2023 is still exactly what I believe: Hamas is a terrorist organization. Palestinians deserve a future that honors their humanity and their aspirations. Protecting innocent life comes first, everywhere, and nobody should ever celebrate the death of a child. Anybody\u2019s child.\u201d<\/p>\n Macklemore opened for Ed Sheeran at MetLife Stadium on Sept. 4, performing his anti-Israel song \u201cHind\u2019s Hall.\u201d Redferns<\/p>\n Pink stressed that her objection was not to the phrase \u201cFree Palestine,\u201d but to Macklemore himself.<\/p>\n She recalled cheering him on when he performed \u201cSame Love\u201d at the 2014 Grammys, but said that four months later, \u201cMacklemore put on a hooked nose, a black beard and a bowl cut<\/a>, performed in it, and called it a \u2018random costume.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEvery Jew I know knew exactly what it was. The same love, it turned out, had a guest list, and we weren\u2019t on it. But he apologized, and I let it go, because that\u2019s what we do. We let it go,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cThen last weekend he stood in front of a stadium full of music-loving families, with violent images from a war on the screens, dedicated a song to the movement of his choice, and then took the mic to tell all of the Jews in the stadium that it wasn\u2019t about them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t get to decide that for us,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Pink said she was \u201cscared\u201d by Macklemore\u2019s comments and wanted to say so as a Jewish mother.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I need is to be able to say, as a Jewish mom, \u2018that scared me, and it scared people I love,\u2019 without being told our fear is just propaganda, and without being told I\u2019m somehow cool with genocide because I noticed?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Pink stressed that she does not want Macklemore fired or silenced.<\/p>\n \u201cI have never asked for another artist to be silenced and I\u2019m not asking now,\u201d she wrote. \u201cI don\u2019t need anyone fired, and I don\u2019t need a refund.\u201d<\/p>\n The pop star also pointed to her history of political activism, including her 2006 song \u201cDear Mr. President,\u201d which addressed the Iraq War.<\/p>\n \u201cI have stood up for other people\u2019s people my whole career, and I know exactly what it costs,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd now I\u2019m standing up for my own people, and I thought I knew going in how lonely that would be. And it\u2019s lonelier than that. But I\u2019m doing it anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n Macklemore said he chose to tour with Sheeran so he could say \u201cFree Palestine\u201d in front of a large audience. Kevin Mazur<\/p>\n \u201cSomething has changed in this country, and I can read it in my own comments. \u2018From the river to the sea.\u2019 \u2018Zionist,\u2019 spat like it\u2019s a slur, by people who couldn\u2019t tell you the details of what I believe, because I hadn\u2019t told them yet. I wasn\u2019t asked. I was told. I don\u2019t think most of them hate Jews. I think somebody handed them a story where the Jew who won\u2019t apologize for existing must be the villain, and they\u2019ve been putting words in my mouth ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n Pink said she would continue speaking out.<\/p>\n \u201cTo the ones who are furious with me: you don\u2019t have to agree with me,\u201d she wrote. \u201cYou never did. That\u2019s been our unspoken agreement for twenty-five years, and it still stands, and so do I.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t have to agree with one thing Israel\u2019s government does to not want the Jewish family two rows down from you to be scared or targeted at a concert. That\u2019s the only thing I\u2019m asking anybody for.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSomething has changed in this country, and I can read it in my own comments,\u201d Pink said of the wave of antisemitism. REUTERS<\/p>\n Macklemore has stood by his remarks, sharing a video of his speech on Instagram and explaining that he\u00a0chose to tour with Sheeran<\/a>\u00a0partly so he could say \u201cFree Palestine\u201d in front of a large audience.<\/p>\n \u201cWanting all humans to be treated equal should never be controversial,\u201d he\u00a0wrote in his caption<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Israeli-American Council also launched a petition calling for Macklemore to be removed from the next eight US stadium shows he is scheduled to open for Sheeran through early November.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t